Opinion in Brief: The w-word

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Dare we say it? The w-word? Better whisper it. Pssst: “Welfare state.” Careful. Don’t go around saying it out loud. That can lead to trouble. Mitt Romney did, and look what happened to him. He wound up snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Even Republicans are giving him holy heck for having said, in so many inartful words, the plain truth that limited government is a hard sell for Republicans to make when so many folks are tapped into government “entitlements.” Forty-seven percent, said Romney.

ObamaCrats hammered him for making it sound like the U.S. of A. has become a — shush! — welfare state. And Republicans piled on, saying he should have just kept his mouth shut about the w-word state. Why stir up needless controversy? Actually, Romney was off a bit in his numbers. It’s probably closer to 50 percent than 47, according to one expert on the w-word state. Nicholas Eberstadt, a scholar with the American Heritage Foundation, a think tank of conservative bent, reckons that in 1955 government payments to individuals, including medical care, added up to 21 cents of every federal dollar spent. The figure for 2011: 65 cents of every federal dollar. And w-word spending will increase by leaps and bounds as ObamaCare comes snowballing down the hill. ObamaCare promises aid to families of four with incomes up to four times the official poverty level. That’s incomes up to $91,000.

Since the first days of the w-word state, back around 1935, government “transfer payments” as a percentage of the economy have grown from 3 to 20 percent. That’s now about $7,200 for every man, woman and child. And though the workplace is far safer than years ago and medical care far more advanced, the percentage of working-age adults on Social Security disability has more than quadrupled over the last five decades.

All of which raises the questions: How do we pay for the w-word state? How do we make sure there’ll be help for those who desperately need it? How do we even begin to address these questions if we aren’t willing to look reality in the face? — The Trentonian